Enhancing high cycle fatigue performance of plasma nitrided AISI 4140 steel by post-aging treatment and direct current magnetic field

Machine elements become unable to perform their duties as a result of fatigue damage. In addition, machine elements that are subjected to fatigue under cyclic loads are exposed to electric and magnetic fields when they are close to electrical and magnetic field sources such as electric motors. Moreover, plasma nitriding is often used to increase the fatigue strength of materials. Although the fatigue properties of surface-treated materials are frequently studied, the fatigue behavior of these materials under a magnetic field is not fully known. Therefore, this study focuses on examining the effects of magnetic field on the fatigue properties of surface-treated materials. For this purpose, AISI 4140 steel samples were plasma nitrided and subsequently post-aged, and then they were tested using a rotating bending fatigue testing system by exposing them to a magnetic field for 30 % and 100 % of their fatigue life. ε-Fe2–3N and γ’-Fe4N phases were seen in surface-treated samples, in addition to these phases, peaks belonging to the α”-Fe16N2 phase were observed in post-aged samples. Plasma nitriding raised the hardness of the material because of nitride phases and α”-Fe16N2 caused an extra increase. The highest diffusion depth was seen in the post-aged samples because post-aging facilitated the diffusion of nitrogen. Surface treatments increased the fatigue strength of the material. All samples tested under a magnetic field exhibited higher fatigue strength than samples tested without a magnetic field because fatigue crack initiation was prolonged by the magnetic field. Compared to non-magnetic and 30 % magnetic samples, the fatigue strengths of the samples in a 100 % magnetic field were lower. Furthermore, it was observed that applying a magnetic field had no effect on the samples' fractographic structure. [Display omitted] •ε-Fe2–3N and γ’-Fe4N were seen in plasma nitrided samples and α”-Fe16N2 phase was observed in post-aged samples.•Post-aged samples exhibited higher hardness than only plasma nitrided samples because of α”-Fe16N2 phase formation.•Post-aged samples exhibited higher fatigue strength than untreated and only plasma nitrided samples.•All samples tested under magnetic field exhibited higher fatigue strength than samples tested without magnetic field.